In current technology, generation of electromagnetic field environments for testing large military and civilian systems (aircraft, vehicles, building enclosures, etc.) has a pronounced deficiency in the Medium Frequency (MF) and High Frequency (HF) regimes. This deficiency is due in part to the fundamental nature of electromagnetic wave propagation and radiation. Existing techniques for generating these environments may be placed in two fundamental categories: bounded-wave structures and radiating-wave structures.
Bounded-wave structures utilize transmission lines to produce a uniform, high-intensity electromagnetic field environment which is necessarily confined to regions within the transmission line structure. Consequently, existing bounded-wave structures are often too small to accommodate the desired test objects in the MF and HF regimes.
Radiating-wave structures, on the other hand, utilize the propagating emission of electromagnetic waves to illuminate the test object in a specified electromagnetic field environment. Although large test objects may be illuminated in this manner, the field uniformity is significantly degraded by the dispersive nature of a radiating wave.
This disclosure sets forth a device for generating electromagnetic field environments over large test volumes in the MF and HF regimes. This device utilizes a hybrid scheme which incorporates advantages of both bounded-wave structures and radiating-wave structures.